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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321812">Love or Death</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfyWordWeaver/pseuds/WolfyWordWeaver'>WolfyWordWeaver</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crime Scenes, Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:01:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfyWordWeaver/pseuds/WolfyWordWeaver</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom Riddle was a man that held many secrets but when he lets Harry into his life he begins to wonder if maybe he's finally discovered true love. What better way to find out than to offer up the man that killed Harry's parents?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Tom Riddle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>221</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love or Death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingFoxJellyfish/gifts">KingFoxJellyfish</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This one-shot is gifted to the lovely @kingfoxjellyfish (on Tumblr) as the prize for my 69 gift fic drawing. I hope that you enjoy my take on the prompt!</p><p>Pairing: Tom Riddle/Harry Potter<br/>prompt: pure sweet fluff</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tom Riddle was a man that everyone wanted to get to know but no one actually could. He had the charisma of a Hollywood actor with the humility of Mother Teresa and was frighteningly competent at anything he put his mind to. Career advisers were surprised when the young man declared his intention to go into forensic investigating, even more so when he wanted to pursue the behind-the-scenes work of chemistry, blood spatter analysis, fingerprint hunting, crime scene examination, and even record keeping. This was a young man who could easily get into politics or if he wanted to be involved with the police could rise through the ranks to be commissioner in record time - but no, he always insisted that he liked the hard work and little recognition that came with the job. </p><p>It was almost too easy a job to get into and once he did Tom Riddle found himself even more comfortable with moving forward with his new hobby.</p><p>The first person he had killed was a young girl in high school. It had been an accident, a clingy girl that had given her permission for his hands to wander who started to get cold feet when a teacher nearly caught them. He had been so annoyed because really, no one would find them behind the gym floor mats in the storeroom if she just kept still and quiet. She had tried to scream to make it look like he was assaulting her and that was what turned his intention from just keeping her quiet to permanently shutting her up. It was absolutely unacceptable for her to treat him that way. By the time the police found her body in the girls' locker room, her waterlogged body could not yield any fingerprints or any solid leads. </p><p>Unfortunately, the Head of Investigations - a Mr. Dumbledore - had grown suspicious of him over the events of the investigation and he had not been free to explore the new <em>feelings </em>and curiosities that the murder had given him. Tom was not a person used to such things as <em>feelings</em> and he had been quite shocked by how pleasant they felt. So years spent learning about the human body and the many ways to kill and maim it had been such a small effort to attain the goal of a position that put him right by the carnage on a daily basis and with the means to control the flow of information if he played his cards correctly. </p><p>This was the life that Tom Riddle grew to enjoy for nearly ten years before there was another life-altering event that shook him. </p><p>He had been in the middle of milking a snake's venom when Severus came in to introduce the newest members of their team, a Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley. At first, Tom hadn't noticed anything particularly special about the shorter of the two young men. A large lightning-shaped scar was poorly hidden behind atrociously messy black hair and his glasses seemed in desperate need of repair, but all of that was almost muted compared to the shocking height of his friend and the outrageously red hair he sported. Still, he noted that the young investigator, a detective actually assigned to work with their department, was attractive enough in a rough-around-the-edges kind of way. However, the handshake that they shared gave the older man a short pause. It was a confident grip and those bright green eyes that looked up into his own bore a mixture of cocky and dangerous that he had only ever seen in one person before - the man in the mirror.</p><p>Tom and Harry grew close rather quickly in the coming months, finding many similarities and a strange easy-going connection between them. They performed well in the field together, Tom loving how he could point out the bare minimum necessary for Harry to quickly grasp the threads of events that the crime scenes depicted. They both had the ability to put their minds in the head of the culprit and Harry was eager and quick to learn from the far more experienced Riddle. That they soon brought their engaging relationship into the bedroom was a surprise to almost no one. Although he was about a decade older than his lover, Tom found the boy's strange maturity a blessing and Harry found Tom's laid-back and unassuming ideas of being in a relationship exactly what he was looking for. They both were married to their work first and foremost and then they could relieve stress and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh in their rare free time. </p><p>It was over a cup of morning coffee while lounging in bed that Tom wondered if what he was <em>feeling</em> could be love. Harry had been rubbing at his scar and explaining why he had gotten into their profession. </p><p>"My parents were murdered, you see..." he explained.</p><p>Murdered and then had their only child left surrounded by the carnage and with his own mark to bear. Lord Voldemort had left a calling card carved into the boy's forehead so that he would never forget and never feel safe. But Harry had taken the mark as something other than what was intended.</p><p>"I'm going to find him," Harry stated firmly as he finally leaned back against the soft white pillows. "And when I do, I intend to kill the bastard."</p><p>Tom nodded approvingly. </p><p>"How do you intend to do that without getting put in prison yourself?" he asked calmly as he sipped on the last bit of coffee at the bottom of his mug. </p><p>Harry shrugged. "That doesn't really matter. I don't care if I go to prison for the rest of my life so long as he's dead." </p><p>Those green eyes glanced over at Tom and seemed to measure him up. The older man assumed Harry was trying to see if Tom would protest or otherwise discourage him from carrying out his illegal intentions. When Tom didn't say anything more, the young man's shoulders relaxed and he leaned forward to press a kiss to those caffeinated lips. Tom didn't bother to hide his grin as he accepted the kiss and pulled the warm body back up against his own.</p><p>Was this love? Not being annoyed with the body tangled with yours, being intellectual peers, and having unabashed violent tendencies? </p><p>Tom Riddle thought that perhaps this was, and just in case he knew exactly what he needed to do. </p><p>****</p><p>Chasing down the serial killer only known as Lord Voldemort was easier to think up than to execute and Tom was not lacking in the skills or drive to do so. All of his cases had remained unsolved with the only thing linking them together being the hand-drawn lighting bolt and his moniker written in blood somewhere at the scene of the crime. The last crime he committed was a Halloween night over two decades ago and it was the first and only time he left anyone alive or left his symbol carved into a body. As Tom poured over the countless case notes and reexamined the materials that he could he found himself growing even more perplexed. The man (he was sure of it) who carried out these murders was meticulous and twisted, things that Tom himself could appreciate, but it was frustrating for the purposes of finding the man. </p><p>It didn't help that the only time he had to dedicate to looking into the case was in his spare time which there wasn't much of. He never told Harry what he was doing but he also didn't try to hide the case files that were neatly organized on his desk at the apartment. If he noticed the slightly different way that the folders were stacked after Harry had been over he didn't mention it to Harry either. It was always good to have more than one set of eyes on something like this and he was certain that Harry was doing his own research. </p><p>After six solid months of focus, Tom was pretty annoyed when it was sheer luck that gave him the necessary big break. </p><p>His father had been out of the hospital for a couple of months but had needed extensive physical therapy to get back to functioning. By the time he was well enough to get back into his home, Tom had the regrettable responsibility to prepare the home for the arrival which included a deep cleaning. If he had been a bit less obsessive compulsive about cleanliness it would have been possible to hire help for the job, but as it was he alone undertook the sorry job of bringing a home back to functioning after being mostly abandoned for decades. </p><p>The messy piles of stuff his father had hoarded had also done a number on Tom's obsessive organizational systems and he ended up having to take time off work just to sort through and clear out everything. About a third of the way into the process he wondered if his father would be upset about him trashing a bunch of things and completely reorganizing the house but decided that the old coot could barely be considered more than a sperm donor and the fact that he hadn't just burned down the whole place already was more than Tom Riddle, Sr. deserved. </p><p>About half way through cleaning everything he stumbled across a very surprising item. A bronze charm bracelet with jade elephant charms sat in his hand in sore need of a good polishing. Running through his scant memories with his parents, Tom couldn't place ever seeing the item of jewelry on his mother. She was definitely more of the gaudy and colorful fake jewelry type rather than one to wear something so understated. But as he ran through his mental files Tom was sure that he had seen something like this before. It took sorting through some more contents of that box to finally place where he had seen it before.</p><p>When realization struck, the man threw his head back and laughed.</p><p>It took another couple months of planning and preparation before he finally broached the topic with Harry as they sat in the younger man's car trying to decide on what kind of take out to get. As Harry made a passionate case for the curry place that Tom always pretended not to like he couldn't hold it in anymore and he dug out the charm bracelet and held it out to the other. Green eyes narrowed and dark eyebrows furrowed as the young man examined the polished piece of jewelry hanging casually off a long pale forefinger tauntingly. Recognition flashed through those eyes much faster than they had for Tom and he snatched it out of his lover's hand.</p><p>"Where did you get this?!" he demanded almost angrily.</p><p>Tom couldn't help the pleased grin on his thin lips. "Oh, nowhere important."</p><p>"Don't fuck with me," Harry threatened, a hand moving towards his pistol. </p><p>The motion gave Tom Riddle another secret thrill. They had been friendly for years and lovers for well over a year at this point but none of that mattered to Harry right now. Dark lips were curled into an angry snarl that promised unpleasant results if Tom didn't comply and it was probably the most sensual thing Tom had ever witnessed. Harry would not hesitate to put a bullet through him if it got him closer to his revenge on Lord Voldemort and Tom loved it. </p><p>"I fuck with you all the time, Harry," he replied easily, the smile never falling from his lips.</p><p>Brown eyes that had the unusual trait of almost looking red in certain lights danced with mirth as they took in the darkening murderous intent in those jade eyes. Gun metal glinted in the glittering light of the streetlights as Harry leveled the weapon between Tom's eyes.</p><p>"I won't hesitate, Riddle," he spat. </p><p>"I know," Tom replied easily. They both sat quietly for a minute, the tension sinking into their bones. </p><p>"What do you want?" Harry asked quietly, the heat of his words turned down a degree.</p><p>Now they were getting somewhere.</p><p>"I want you to come with me," he stated confidently. "I've got a present for you."</p><p>Harry stared at the bronze bracelet clutched tightly in the hand not wielding the pistol for a moment before turning his attention back to Tom. "Do you want to drive? Or will you give me directions?"</p><p>Leaning back in the passenger seat, Tom jerked his chin towards the road. "I'll give you directions."</p><p>The drive was silent except for the occasional spoken direction. Harry's stomach growled, but he seemed oblivious to his own body's desires as he focused on getting to their destination as quickly as possible. Their destination ended up being a dark and quiet hunting cabin that was almost an hour out of town. The obnoxious sounds of critters and woodland creatures was almost deafening after the silent drive, but Tom could ignore it in favor of focusing on the sound of his blood pounding in his ears. It had been a long time since he had been this excited. Granted, going on a hunt was always exhilarating, but this was something special. This time he had Harry with him and this was the night that they would finally move through the crossroads. </p><p>True love or death.</p><p>Pushing open the door after pocketing the key, their noses were assaulted with the sterile smell of bleach and plastics. A thin pale hand flipped on a switch he knew by heart and the one-roomed cabin was illuminated to reveal the romantic setting that he had carefully curated for that night. Every inch of the space had been coated in sheets of clear plastic and there was a corner that was specially marked off where the shower was. There was a clear plastic table, very modern and simple in its design so that there was no chance of any blood or traces to be caught in unawares. It was topped with an array of instruments and tools as he wasn't sure what method Harry would prefer. He would accept a bullet to the head, but secretly hoped that Harry would enjoy drawing things out a bit. Like sex, it was always more rewarding to engage in foreplay.</p><p>Beside the table was a simple chair that matched the table, also free of any pesky joints that could hide evidence. Seated and bound to the chair was a thin and very pale old man. Tom knew that the man looked a lot older than he really was, an unfortunate side effect of having been kept in a comatose state for over two decades. Regardless of the sagging skin and wispy hair, those familiar brown eyes projected absolute venom towards the two younger men.</p><p>Harry stared at the man for a moment before slowly looking around the room. His face didn't betray his thoughts and Tom felt another thrill of anticipation. Tonight was either going to go very well or very poorly. There wasn't really an in-between for them now. He was holding nothing back and he hoped that Harry would feel the same way regardless if he agreed or disagreed with the offering. Finally, those wandering eyes settled on Tom.</p><p>"What's his name?"</p><p>The man had a soft gag tied around his mouth to muffle any noises and there were soft leather handcuffs that kept him bound to the chair without inflicting damage to the skin. </p><p>"Tom Riddle," the young man replied with a purr, loving the shocked expression that couldn't be hidden by the other man. "Senior, of course."</p><p>Harry glanced back at the bound man and then turned back to his lover. "Explain, Tom."</p><p>"It's really quite simple now that I've worked it out, and it's rather embarrassing that it took me so long to come to the proper conclusions." He took a deep breath and recited the story as precisely as possible. "This man is my biological father but was in the habit of leaving my mother and I to fend for ourselves more often than not. After she died, I was left to his sole care which quickly came to end when he fell off a ladder and sustained a rather serious head injury." The fact that he as a young child had been responsible for pushing over the ladder while his father was at the top trying to trim the tree didn't need to be explained at the moment. "He was left to rot in the hospital's comatose ward for a good long while until he inexplicably came out of it last year. As his only surviving relative it had fallen to me to take care of his home and prepare him for coming back."</p><p>"You didn't say anything," Harry stated in an accusing tone.</p><p>"I never bring up personal things at work," Tom waved off. "Besides, it didn't take me long to put the puzzle pieces together and by then I wanted to surprise you with this gift. It would have been counterproductive to mention anything before."</p><p>He paused for a moment to give the younger man a chance to respond.</p><p>"Okay, continue."</p><p>"Well, in going through this man's worldly possessions I came across the bracelet that I handed to you earlier this evening. After that it was easier to figure things out. The reason that Lord Voldemort had stopped committing murders and disappeared for all intents and purposes was because he was in a coma thanks to a household accident. And here he is." He gestured to the angry old man. "I have a binder full of evidence and a box with the man's trophies and further evidence which I can share you with you after we dispose of his body, but I think that it's safe to say that you will take my word for it."</p><p>He casually slipped a hand into his trouser pocket, fingers dancing over the cool metallic handle of his knife. Harry had a gun but he wouldn't be able to react as fast as Tom could if things went south. </p><p>"What's with the room?" Harry asked flatly although those glittering eyes revealed that he already knew. He just wanted to hear Tom say it out loud. </p><p>"It's my standard practice," Tom responded easily, his eyes never leaving Harry's. "As a professional in the field you know how important it is to keep the scene of a murder sterile and free from risk of evidence collecting."</p><p>"Your standard practice? How often do you go about kidnapping and murdering old men?" The young voice was dry and haughty and Tom couldn't help his delighted laugh. </p><p>"Not often old men, Harry. Not much fun in that. I like variety but I also like a good challenge. The only reason I bothered with this fool was because of his personal connection to you." </p><p>And his utter revulsion in being in anyway related to that worthless pile of shit. Even without Harry's connection, Tom was sure that he would have knocked off his father. It probably would have been another household accident, easy enough to frame when the victim was a rehabilitating old man. This way was preferable, especially as it finally brought the two lovers to this point.</p><p>"How many people have you killed, Tom?" Harry asked pointedly. His dark hand was casually resting on his holstered pistol. </p><p>Looking down his nose at the other man, Tom felt a proud smile stretch across his lips. "Six so far. He'll make seven. I'm not greedy, Harry."</p><p>"Of course not," Harry snorted in derision before looking back at the composed but still fuming man on the chair. "But what makes you think that I'll let you kill him?"</p><p>Riddle had the pleasant coil in his stomach as he enjoyed their flirtatious banter.</p><p>"It's just a hunch, Harry."</p><p>"You might want to rethink that," Harry responded sharply with a dangerous sneer. Tom tightened his grip on the knife handle but refused to let his smile slip at all. "I told you then and I'll repeat it now, Tom. If anyone's going to be killing this bastard, it's going to be <em>me</em>."</p><p>Relief instinctively flooded through his body, but Tom kept the weapon handy in case the boy was just trying to lower his defenses. "Let's make it a team effort, Harry. As I said, I'm not greedy - you can have the killing blow."</p><p>Harry looked around the room again and then back down at himself. "I don't have any spare clothes with me. It wouldn't do to get blood all over myself."</p><p>"We have to get prepped," Tom explained as he gestured towards the shower. "I always keep the plastic suits in there. Not the most comfortable things to wear while engaging in murder but it's helpful to keep your DNA to yourself."</p><p>Shrugging, the dark-skinned boy dropped his hand from the gun and strode over to the indicated area. He was exposing his back to Tom, a test to see if the son wanted to carry out the will of the father. Tom almost snorted in derision; he had no intention on murdering Harry if they could continue to get along.</p><p>"Show me," he demanded and Tom followed behind. It wasn't often that he enjoyed taking orders and he thought it was another indication that he was smitten with this delectable morsel of a human being.</p><p>"Just a moment," he murmured as he pulled Harry to a stop before they got to the plastic suits.</p><p>Harry looked back at him curiously and Tom leaned forward to claim those chocolate lips. It wasn't their most passionate kiss, but it was a soft and sure one. He was testing his lover's nerves to see how Harry would react and he found comfort in the fact that Harry accepted the kiss and returned it with a careful sweetness. When his pale fingers carefully pressed against the throbbing pulse point in the younger man's throat, he found a slow and steady heartbeat. Dark fingers wrapped around the back of his neck in a comfortable embrace and Tom relaxed even further into the kiss. They lazily explored each other's mouths for another minute before Harry pulled away.</p><p>"Come on, show me how to do this already."</p><p>Tom felt a joy bloom in his chest that he had never thought possible. This must be love. Adoring and worshiping love.</p><p>"Yes, love," he responded eagerly.</p><p>A shy grin curled on those moist lips and Tom could imagine the blush that would paint those cheeks if they were any lighter. He strode forward excitedly, thankful to finally be bringing Harry into this part of his life. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tom gets annoyed at Harry's uncontrolled laughter after he explains how the moniker "Lord Voldemort" was contrived. </p><p>"Really, Tom?" the young man chokes out. "Marvolo?"</p><p>"Shut your mouth, Potter."</p><p>XD  These two are now my favorite murder husbands.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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